Archive for the 'Korean Culture' Category
August 26, 2008
Uncle Ben’s got nothing on Korean rice (밥)
Rice.
Come on, you know Korea has some good rice. Tell me you know this and we can get along.
Quick review! So we have "밥" as a rice but primarily as a meal (which could entail any type of food). There's also the rice itself, "쌀".
Moving on, let's get a country bumpkin's perspective on rice, shall we?
Growing up in central Texas meant that rice took on a bit of a different form that what is the norm in Korea. We're talking Tex-Mex rice - Spanish rice - the yellow-redish with tomato goodness that isn't quite Mexican but certainly not Texan. I also enjoyed (and still do) Dirty rice - a Cajun staple from our border-neighbor Louisiana (or as some Texans say "that one state to the right"). Now there was also two other kinds of rice... Show more
August 19, 2008
You can lead a 물 to water… (Korean drinking water)
Drinking Water.
No, not quality. quantity. There is a serious void in the stomachs of Koreans. That void is water.
I drink a boatload of water. Realistically I drink probably three liters of water a day on average. Oh and 3.8 liters to a gallon there, people. Most doctors recommend that at least 2 liters be consumed daily to simply replace the lost fluids by normal functions such as excretion, respiration, and perspiration. But if you consume about 2 liters of water in a day, then you're probably doing fine by most - and probably more than most.
Most being Koreans. Koreans straight up do not drink water at meals. It's amazing. I go to fill people's water cups and they haven't even touched it. Mind you that we're eating Korean... Show more
August 12, 2008
I can’t eat that… a vegan’s guide to Korean food (vegetarianism in Korea)
Vegetarianism.
If you are 1 in 5 billion people that are vegan (these are verifiable facts here, people), you must be:
1) Angry at something, or
2) Conscientious of something that doesn't quite sit with you.
Either way, you have chosen a meat-free life that has almost exclusively alienated all of your closest friends and family. Great job! You will continue to live this lifestyle until you are a tired, old, cynical shell of a human being that is known more for vulgarity than eco-friendliness. Wow! I can't wait to subject my own children one day to this Hollywood-esque lifestyle!
Hey, I'm okay with it. But many vegetarians react to their diet defensively almost like being accused of racism. "But I have lots of meat-eating... Show more
August 5, 2008
The little country that could (Korean geography)
Size.
I'm from Texas. It's true - everything in Texas is bigger. I wonder if the reverse is true for South Korea? Let's take a look.
South Korea encompasses a skant 38,492 square miles - which makes it slightly bigger than the state of Indiana but slightly smaller than Kentucky. Woah~ that is small. What about population? Kentucky has roughly 4,500,000 residents while Korea has just under 50,000,000. That makes Texas roughly half the population of South Korea. So, Kentucky has 40,411 square miles of land with about 111 people per square mile. Texas fares a bit better with 268,601 square miles - that's roughly 93 people per square mile. Korea? 1300 people per square mile. Shall we have a chart? Oh man I love charts:
Korea - 38,492... Show more
August 4, 2008
Wanna Bite?
More from Stephanie:
So on an early release day at the elementary school where I helped teach, my aunt picked me up and I went with her to help her with her job, which was a private English tutor for kids. Her job seemed to consist mostly of driving to each kid's apartment, checking their homework, asking a few questions and assigning more homework for next time. (maybe it was homework-check-day or something) but after we visited a few kids and got in the elevator to ascend yet again, we were joined by some very young "초딩"s. Before we came to that apartment we had each bought an "ice cream" (more of popsicle type things really) and were trying to eat it before we got to the kids house and when my aunt saw the two second or third grade... Show more
